Climate change, politics, and today’s youth

By Gurvir Singh Jammu, 18 Nov, 2019

People that are now in their early to late 20s and 30s will experience global warming like no generation before them.

The world as we know it today is a place that is ever so diverse in the life forms that it sustains and is ever changing, because in nature nothing really ever stays the same. Humans, who are the most intelligent species on earth are contributing the most to changes in the earth’s environment, especially since the onset of the Industrial Revolution.

As humans, the world around us is changing so fast that some of us find it difficult to keep up, because our life is all based on technology and scientific advancements. Together, all of these developments are taking a toll on Mother Nature, and that is happening because of a lack of public policy on how much pollution we all can put into our environment. But fear not, because today’s young people can change all of this.

All people that are now in their early to late 20s and 30s will experience global warming like no generation before them, but subsequently we will also have to come up with the best solutions to stop it and reverse its effects. Many might see this as an uphill battle, due to presumed maturity levels of young people and the time constrain that we have for dealing with this issue. As a planet, we only have a few more years left to deal with climate change and the only way we can do this is by demanding our politicians to create public policy that effectively protects our environment and keeps our planet healthy and habitable for future generations.

Young people must communicate with our local politicians (including Members of Legislative Assembly and Members of Parliament) by writing letters and emails to them that show how deeply concerned we are about this, and that we stand with the politicians that will take strong action against climate change. Not only that, but we must also attend political events and public gatherings to show support for political action on climate change and talk about this in the public realm.

Past generations have effectively done this before to shape our political and social climate to what it is today, but today’s young people must go beyond that, for if we do not act today, we may not have a habitable planet we can call home tomorrow.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Gurvir Singh Jammu is a third year criminology student at Kwantlen Polytechnic University. His passion in life is being a leader in his community and he wishes to inspire others to step up for positive change in their local communities.